IBI CORPORATE FINANCE CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW - MATCH DAY 7 (JULY 19TH)

The IBI Corporate Finance Championship reaches it's halfway stage this weekend, and with the table very tight at the top, every result counts both in terms of the potential league champions, and the sides who qualify for the Premier League next season.

This weekend's fixtures see Rush travel to Park Avenue to play Railway Union, whilst also on the southside, Terenure play host to Cork County. In Kilcock, North Kildare play host to The Hills, and finally in Inch, Civil Service are the visitors to North County.

RAILWAY UNION VS RUSH

Railway are captained once again by Philippe le Roux, who features in a batting line up alongside Rob O’Brien, Hedayat Khogiani and Ashli Prakash, who will all feature in the top 5, whilst their battery of all-rounders feature Liam McCarthy and Srihan Karpe who will be important in the middle order as the side look to accelerate. McCarthy’s seam will open the bowling along with Sean O’Brien, with support in the seam department from Zaman Safi and teenager Johnny Woods, whilst Karpe’s spin will lead the way with potential support from Prakash’s right arm option.

Rush meanwhile are on something of a roll of late having made their way to the National Cup final after their win last weekend, whilst they also won in brilliant fashion last week against Civil Service. That victory was down to some fine efforts by Asher Abbasi and Jarred Barnes with the ball, and they are supported by Allan Eastwood in the seam department, whilst their spinners of Nasir Totakhil, Josh Doyle and Nathan McGuire have proved to be an excellent trio who can both threaten to take wickets and bowl economic spells. Their batting unit is led by Doyle and McGuire, along with the returning Jack McGee and his brother Finn McGee who will also feature behind the stumps. Prasanth Viswanath and Hashir Sultan will both also feature in the middle order in a very strong Rush batting unit which should have plenty of firepower to put themselves right into this game.

Railway’s spinning wickets should be conducive to the efforts of Rush’s left armer Nasir Totakhil. If he can put pressure on Railway’s top order, in particular Rob O’Brien, it will give Rush a great chance.

KEY BATTLE: Rob O’Brien vs Nasir Totakhil

TERENURE VS CORK COUNTY

Terenure go into this fixture in must-win territory, having lost five of the first six games and as yet to win a league fixture. They are captained by Dylan Cleary who takes over this weekend, and he will lead a bowling attack which also features seam in the shape of Raghav Grover and Kripesh Shetty, whilst there’s a league debut for Nawaz Khan. The spin comes from Jinal Khatri’s leg-breaks, with support in the shape of Devansh Singh and Henry Dall’s offies. With the bat Dall and Séamus Lynch are the key batters in the side, and are likely to once again be the pair that the side rely on to score the bulk of their runs once again. Whilst there may be support in the shape of Grover and Singh, as well as Sid Nair who showed some level of form with his 30 last weekend.

Cork County on the other hand come into this fixture off the back of a brilliant victory last weekend, with their batting led by Ross Durity and Mark Andrianatos, along with Syed Aiman and Thorne Prophet who will bat in the middle order. The spinners include left-arm off-spinner Diarmuid Carey, Ehsan O’Sullivan’s off-breaks and leggie Nabeel Anjum, who have all shown the ability to take wickets and bowl tight spells, whilst the seam comes from Andrianatos, Prophet and Suliman Safi. Benjamin Marris will likely be taking the gloves and batting at the top of the order as yet another string to the batting bow.

Terenure’s new skipper will bowl a big opening spell with the new ball in this fixture, and if Cleary can dismiss Cork’s opener and his opposite number Ross Durity, the home team will be well on the front foot.

KEY BATTLE: Dylan Cleary vs Ross Durity

NORTH KILDARE VS THE HILLS

The home side come into this game off the back of a brilliant last-ditch win against Terenure last weekend, and they will be looking for their batting unit to once again put together a good total to challenge The Hills. They will be led with the bat by Sayed Shah, Josh Uddin, Abid Taniwal and Husnain Maroof, whilst the likes of Yashraj Mate and Badeeu Zaman both produced good late order runs and are likely to be used in the same role again this weekend. Meanwhile, their bowling is led by the pair of left-arm seamers in Maroof and Taniwal, whilst Mohammad Zaman and Mate are the back-up pacers in the side. Their spinners are led by their star man in Bakhtyar Nabi, with support from skipper Imran ul-Haq who is another strong option with his off-breaks.

The Hills meanwhile are led by the skipper Tómas Rooney-Murphy with the ball, and he’s joined in the seam bowling department by Sean McNicholl, Matthew Weldon and Cian Nulty, with the depth here now making the Skerries men a seriously tough proposition. Their spinners are a three pronged attack, featuring Brandon Kruger and Nicolaj Damgaard, whilst the youngster Febin Manoj has found himself taking plenty of wickets in recent weeks. With the bat, Kruger and Andy Kavanagh have shown good form at the top of the order, whilst Damgaard will be a vital batter against the medium pacers of NK. The middle order will feature the in form Yaseen Sherzad, whilst ‘keeper Mubeen Ali is another batter who could hit the ball cleanly further down the order.

The early spell from North Kildare’s seamers could prove vital in this fixture, and Husnain Maroof will be aiming to dismiss Brandon Kruger in his opening efforts. If Kruger falls early, there could be plenty of momentum with North Kildare.

KEY BATTLE: Husnain Maroof vs Brandon Kruger

NORTH COUNTY VS CIVIL SERVICE

Finally, North County will be looking to bounce back from a very disappointing weekend last time out, with their sights now firmly set on overtaking Railway Union once again at the top of the league table. Their batting is led from the front by their skipper Niall McGovern, whilst John Devane alongside him at the top of the order has proven to be a very valuable asset since he moved into that slot at the start of last season. Their two premier batters follow them, the left-hander Suliman Safi has been in excellent nick all season and along with the league’s best all-rounder Eddie Richardson, they will be responsible for the bulk of the runs in all likelihood. The likes of Abdul Sattar and Alan Joseph Mathew have both been in the runs this year and the home side will be looking to them to round off the innings strongly. With the ball, Abdul Ghaffar and Richardson will look to extract any early movement, whilst Sattar and Sean Sludds are the next two seamers in the side. Their five man pace attack is rounded off by Ashish Jain, whilst the spin in the side comes mainly from Mathew, and this week he is backed up by teenage leg-spinner Johan George, who is no doubt a player with a very bright future ahead of him.

Civil Service meanwhile managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory last weekend, when having done so much good work to see Rush 9 down and 40 runs short of victory, their bowlers couldn’t quite find that last wicket. That attack is led by openers Naveed Khan and Mubasher Siddique, who have been consistent all season, and they are supported by Digamber Mishra in the pace department. Their spin has been their trump card of late, with Asadullah Ahmadzai and Aamir Bafanda having performed excellently with their respective off-breaks. The attack is rounded off by Vivekendran Srinivasan, whose addition to the side in recent weeks has added another strong wicket taking option. Their batting has performed admirably without being spectacular, Nilesh Joshi and Simranjeet Singh being two fine stroke players in the top order, however the class act has been Arjun Chandrasekar of late, his half-century last weekend proving vital in the side’s efforts. Siddiquir and Aakash Kutty are both capable of clearing the ropes and could prove very important if the side can make a good start to the game.

Civil Service’s bowling unit will desperately need a good start in this game and generally that comes from Naveed Khan, if he can knock over County’s main man in Suliman Safi, it could put them right on the front foot and into the mix for the game.

KEY BATTLE: Suliman Safi vs Naveed Khan